Confederations Cup 2013: Where did Uruguay falter against Brazil? - A Tactical Analysis

Confederations Cup 2013: Where did Uruguay falter against Brazil? - A Tactical Analysis

The first semi final of the Confederations cup 2013 saw Brazil take on Uruguay at the Belo Horizonte. Diego Forlan missed a penalty early in the first half to give the Uruguayans an early lead but it was the Brazilian Striker Fred who gave the hosts with a cool finish just before half time. Edinson Cavani made it 1-1 just after the break with a neat left footed finish from inside. When the game looked to be heading towards extra time it was Paulinho who rose the highest at the far post to net the winner in the 85th minute and send the hosts to the finals.

It was a close contest between both the South American Countries and either of them could have won till the 85th minute. Brazil had a lion share of the possession (67%) but were unable to create chances as the Uruguayans brought many bodies behind and defended well as a unit. Let us see the reasons why the Uruguayans didn't fare much against the hosts in the semifinals.

The Attacking Trio Never Got Going

Uruguay fielded a 4-3-3 formation with Luiz Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan up front. The three strikers who normally operate up front as a lone man weren't at their best against Brazil. Cavani who played on the right was helping Maxi Periera in defence and was tracking back as well. Suarez who normally plays well as a lone strike up front played on the left and never got into the game. Forlan struggled without pace and his link up play with Suarez and Cavani on his sides wasn’t helping either. Diego Forlan also lost possession needlessly on more than few occasions.

The Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez never played to his team’s strengths against the hosts. Luiz Suarez and Edinson Cavani who score lot of goals for their clubs operating as a lone man up front were played out of position. They were not allowed to exert pressure on the last line of the Brazilian defence and hence never made their presence felt for most part of the game.

Midfielders Forgot the Art of ‘PASSING’

The Uruguayan central midfielders never seemed to get on with the pace of the game. The mid field trio of Gonzales, Rios and Rodriguez had only 102 touches on the ball together through out the whole 90 minutes and their passing accuracy was just 70%. This shows that the Uruguayan Mid fielders never had an influence on the game.

Brazilian Full Backs were allowed Freedom to attacks

We all know how Dani Alves and Marcelo are good going forward. Oscar Tabarez never got his tactics right where he should have curd both the full backs while they are coming forward to support the attacks. Marcelo linked well with Neymar on the left and also supplied more crosses from the left.

Final Pass was Poor

With three front man often waiting in the box never got at the end of crosses that came in. The crosses from both the flanks were so poor. Maxi Pereira who had more touches (49) than any other Uruguayan on the pitch failed to find any target men who were in the box to meet his crosses from the right and had a very poor passing accuracy of 58%.